The Cornish Bible of John Trevisa

An examination of the evidence that a medieval Cornish Bible written by John Trevisa once existed

Spatial and seasonal relationships between Pacific harbor seals (Phoca vitulina richardii) and their prey, at multiple scales

Knowing where pinnipeds forage is vital to managing and protecting their populations, and for assessing potential interactions with fisheries. We assessed the spatial relationship between the seasonal distribution of Pacific harbor seals (Phoca vitulina richardii) outfitted with satellite transmitters and the seasonal distributions of potential harbor seal prey species in San Francisco Bay, California. Pearson’s correlation coefficients were calculated between the number of harbor seal locations in an area of the San Francisco Bay and the abundance of specific prey species in the same area. The influence of scale on the analyses was assessed by varying the scale of analysis from 1 to 10 km. There was consistency in the prey species targeted by harbor seals year-round, although there were seasonal differences between the most important prey species. The highest correlations between harbor seals and their prey were found for seasonally abundant benthic species, located within about 10 km of the primary haul-out site. Probable foraging habitat for harbor seals was identified, based on areas with high abundances of prey species that were strongly correlated with harbor seal distribution. With comparable local data inputs, this approach has potential application to pinniped management in other areas, and to decisions about the location of marine reserves designed to protect these species

The linear earthworks of Cornwall: what if they were early medieval?

This article examines various linear earthworks in Cornwall that may date to the early medieval period. The dating evidence for the earthworks is discussed. While incontrovertible evidence for when they were built is lacking, the article asks how they might fit into the early medieval period if that is when most or all of them were built. The article postulates that they may have provided refuges against raiding, probably from the kingdom of Wessex in the eighth and ninth century, so allowing the Cornish to preserve their distinctive identity and language until the modern era (Padel 2017)

Redistribution Of Air Within The Lungs May Potentiate "Fright" Bradycardia In Submerged Crocodiles (Crocodylus porosus)

1. Voluntary undisturbed dives by Crocodylus porosus were short in duration (3.08 + 1.87 min, mean + SD) and accompanied by a small but significant bradycardia (14.3 + 5.9% drop). 2. When crocodiles were disturbed underwater there was a rapid onset of "fright" bradycardia, to 65 + 6.0% of surface heart rates and dive durations were prolonged to 19.6 + 1.8 min. 3. The development of "fright" bradycardia was not accompanied by any increase in intratracheal pressure or expulsion of lung gas. However, sustained contraction of the abdomen and expansion of the thorax revealed a redistribution of air anteriorly within the lungs. 4. We propose that the redistribution of air within the lungs may generate an afferent signal which potentiates the initiation of a severe, dive-prolonging bradycardia

Serotyping of Toxoplasma gondii Infection Using Peptide Membrane Arrays.

The intracellular parasite Toxoplasma gondii can cause chronic infections in most warm-blooded animals, including humans. In the USA, strains belonging to four different Toxoplasma clonal lineages (types 1, 2, 3, and 12) are commonly isolated, whereas strains not belonging to these lineages are predominant in other continents such as South America. Strain type plays a pivotal role in determining the severity of Toxoplasma infection. Therefore, it is epidemiologically relevant to develop a non-invasive and inexpensive method for determining the strain type in Toxoplasma infections and to correlate the genotype with disease outcome. Serological typing is based on the fact that many host antibodies are raised against immunodominant parasite proteins that are highly polymorphic between strains. However, current serological assays can only reliably distinguish type 2 from non-type 2 infections. To improve these assays, mouse, rabbit, and human infection serum were reacted against 950 peptides from 62 different polymorphic Toxoplasma proteins by using cellulose membrane peptide arrays. This allowed us to identify the most antigenic peptides and to pinpoint the most relevant polymorphisms that determine strain specificity. Our results confirm the utility of previously described peptides and identify novel peptides that improve and increase the specificity of the assay. In addition, a large number of novel proteins showed potential to be used for Toxoplasma diagnosis. Among these, peptides derived from several rhoptry, dense granule, and surface proteins represented promising candidates that may be used in future experiments to improve Toxoplasma serotyping. Moreover, a redesigned version of the published GRA7 typing peptide performed better and specifically distinguished type 3 from non-type 3 infections in sera from mice, rabbits, and humans

Body Temperatures and Activity Patterns of Tasmanian Devils (Sarcophilus harrisii) and Eastern Quolls (Dasyurus viverrinus) through a Subalpine Winter

During a field study of carnivorous dasyurid marsupials in subalpine Tasmania, the trapping success for Tasmanian devils (Sarcophilus harrisii), but not for spotted-tailed quolls (Dasyurus maculatus) or eastern quolls (Dasyurus viverrinus), was significantly lower when winter weather conditions turned to sleet or snow or when deep snow lay on the ground. This field study was instigated to determine if devils and eastern quolls spend more time in burrows in severe weather conditions and if they enter torpor. Torpor is known to occur in eutherian mammals as large as devils and in a similar-sized congeneric marsupial, the western quoll (Dasyurus geoffroyi). Using radiotelemetry, body temperatures of Tasmanian devils and eastern quolls ranging freely in their natural habitat were monitored throughout winter. Neither species was observed in torpor, even under prolonged severe weather conditions, and the number of hours spent active did not differ between summer and winter or between moderate and severe winter weather conditions. Body temperatures averaged 36.5 degrees C (SD = 0.079, range of 33.5 degrees -38.6 degrees C) for the three male eastern quolls and 35.7 degrees C (SD = 0.575, range of 31.3 degrees - 37.5 degrees C) for the four (male and female) devils. A diel cycle in body temperature occurred in both species; temperatures rose each evening when animals became active, remained high throughout the night despite ambient temperatures falling to the diel minima, and were lower during the day when the individuals were inactive in dens. The amplitude of this cycle was greater in eastern quolls (1.1 degrees C, SD = 0.142) than in devils (0.6 degrees C, SD = 0.252)

Sodium and Water Fluxes in Free-Living Crocodylus Porosus in Marine and Brackish Conditions

Radioactive sodium and water were used to determine total body water (TBW), exchangeable sodium (ExNa) and water and sodium fluxes in free-living Crocodylus porosus in marine (hyperosmotic; salinity = 250/00-350/00) and brackish (hypoosmotic; salinity = 20/00-7.50/00) sections of the Tomkinson River in northern Australia. At capture, size-corrected TBW and ExNa pools in 62 crocodiles (hatchlings, juveniles, and subadults; weight, 0.108-54.4 kg) were independent of salinity history. To determine fluxes, all animals were released at their capture sites and left undisturbed until recapture. Thirty-seven were recaptured after 7-18 days. Fifteen of the 17 hatchlings recaptured from both salinity categories grew and maintained their condition and hydration status. In contrast, all 20 juveniles and subadults lost weight in the same period, and juveniles in hyperosmotic conditions showed significantly lower hydration and condition factors. Water effluxes in hatchlings were ~80 and ~160 ml kg-0.63 day-1 in marine and brackish conditions, respectively. Comparable sodium effluxes were 7.5 and 4.4 mmol kg-0.63 day1. All crocodiles in hyperosmotic conditions had consistently lower water effluxes (~ X0.5) and higher sodium effluxes (~ X 1.6) than did crocodiles in brackish water. In both salinity categories, hatchlings had greater water turnover (~ X 1.3, X 1.6) and sodium turnover (~ X 1.5, X 1.25) than did juveniles and subadults. Interpretation of the field data is complicated by integumentary exchange of sodium and water, a size-related aphagia apparently induced by disturbance, and difficulties of adjusting for allometric differences across a wide range of sizes. Nevertheless, it is clear that C. porosus is able to effect considerable economies of water turnover in hyperosmotic salt water and that the secretory capacity of the lingual glands, as measured in the laboratory, is more than enough to account for the highest sodium effluxes that we measured in C. porosus in the field